Medical issue ruled out in pilot’s death

TUPELO – A preliminary autopsy report on David Duncan, the pilot killed in Wednesday’s plane crash, ruled out a heart attack as a contributing factor to his death.
Lee County Coroner Carolyn Gillentine-Green said the cause of Duncan’s death is multiple trauma sustained from the crash. The 69-year-old Duncan, a Lee County resident, did have some heart problems, but he did not have a heart attack prior to the crash, according to the coroner.
Duncan’s plane skidded across Coley Road and crashed into a pine tree shortly after taking off from the Tupelo Regional Airport on Wednesday morning. The crash is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
The plane was removed from Eric Williams’ yard at 783 Coley Road on Thursday, according to NTSB spokesman Keith Hollaway.
“This means that we are done documenting the accident and are moving on to the next step of determining the cause,” Hollaway said. “The plane is usually housed in a local hangar or returned to the owner or insurance company.”
Hollaway said a preliminary report on the accident will be available at the end of next week but said it will not tell the cause of the accident. The investigation could take up to 18 month to complete.
danza.johnson@journalinc.com